UK

UniCredit raised €2bn of preferred senior funding with a careful trade on Tuesday, as investors come to terms with a new pricing paradigm in the bank bond market.

The billionaire Arora brothers have sold £218m ($298m) of shares in B&M European Value Retail, the UK budget retail chain, through an auctioned block trade.

Apollo Global Management has continued to selldown its stake in Watches of Switzerland, the UK luxury watch retailer, following a strong rally in the stock since its IPO on the London Stock Exchange in May 2019.

Moonpig, the UK online cards and gifts company, has published a registration document to list on the London Stock Exchange. Sources close to the deal are confident there is enough demand for it to become one of 2021’s early success stories.

Nomura has expanded its covered bond trading capacity with a new hire from BNP Paribas.

BlackRock, the US asset manager, has taken part in a $75m Series 'C' financing for Immunocore, a UK life sciences company that works in developing treatments that use the body’s T-cell receptors to fight cancer and other diseases.

Société Générale failed to match BNP Paribas for demand in the sterling market on Monday, after following its peer by launching a new non-preferred senior trade in the currency.

Dr Martens, the manufacturer of boots and shoes, filed initial paperwork for a flotation on the London Stock Exchange on Monday. The deal could be larger than £1bn ($1.37bn), according to sources speaking to GlobalCapital.

Alternative asset manager Tikehau Capital has hired a new chief operating officer for its private debt strategy, who will also be responsible for private debt investments in France.

The UK Debt Management Office has chosen the banks to lead the sale of a new 25 year conventional Gilt via syndication, following support for this maturity by Gilt-edged Market Makers (GEMMs) and investors in a consultation at the end of November.

Invesco has sold the last of its stake in IP Group, the investment company focused on the commercialisation of university-developed intellectual property, through an accelerated bookbuild on Wednesday night.

TP Icap, the interdealer broker, has launched its £315m rights issue to partially fund the acquisition of Liquidnet.